Tag: 03.24.00

No, it’s not a pretty sight at all. Australia’s top auction houses are elbowing one another out of the way for the right to sell the $10 million Mertz collection of Australian art which will return to its homeland after 35 years in the U.S. “It’s an extraordinary collection of iconic Australian images,” said Sotheby’s Managing Director Paul Sumner. The sale’s expected to be the most lucrative art auction Australia has ever seen: “Whichever firm wins will not only earn more than $1 million in commissions but will have the chance to sell the last big collection of Australian art still in ‘private’ hands.” – Sydney Morning Herald

A stone sculpture by Berlin artist Alexander Polzin is at the center of a fiery debate in Israel. The culmination of seven months as an artist-in-residence working on a massive block of red Sinai granite, his sculpture “Der Steinhändler” (the trader of stones) has been attacked repeatedly. The attacks are presumed to be religiously motivated, by Orthodox Jews opposed to Polzin’s violation of the commandment, “Thou shalt not make for yourself a graven image.” – Die Welt (Germany)

Once the sole obsession of film buffs, collecting vintage film posters has become a big business over the last 10 years. Christie’s is holding its vintage film poster auction Monday, and fans – “who get their kicks from having a slice of cinema history on their living room walls” – are already speculating about record-breaking prices. “The undoubted highlight is the chance to bid for rare original ‘Casablanca’ posters, including Pierre Pigeot’s steamy exotic 1942 design.” – The Guardian